Revelation: Intro
Thought to have been written in the later years of the first century, the story of this final book of our Bible stands alone in its meaning and theme. Here in this quite different book we are shown what is seen by John, the beloved Apostle, as the portals of heaven are opened and the gates of pearl there are flung open. The original language teaches us that the book, known as Apocalypse, is titled in English as the Revelation, meaning an "unveiling" or "drawing back" of the curtain of eternity so that we may better understand the plan of the Lord for His creation in its final days.
More than half a century had elapsed since John laid his head on the bosom of Jesus at the Last Supper, had gazed in tears at the agony of the cross, and had followed the risen Lord, with the other chosen ones, to the Mount of Ascension until the cloud received Him out of their sight, and. the angel foretold His return in the same way;
John alone of this group remained in mortal life as all the others of the Apostles all suffered deaths of persecution. John himself was driven by persecution to a solitary island of rock in the Aegean sea known as Patmos. We have no account of the immediate cause of his' exile. We seem to surmise that it was his preaching and teaching of the divine Person and glory of the Lord he served. His Gospel writing both opened and closed in words of beauty on this matter:
"The Word was with God, and the Word was God"
"These things are written, that you might believe that
Jesus is the Christ, the son of God"
From being the beloved Apostle and among the most honored of men, John had become an exile and castaway.
Jesus, in every age of the church, has given to His favored servants special proofs and assurances of His grace and love.
When the heart of Moses was ready to faint under the repeated murmurings of Israel, God set him in a cleft of a rock and allowed him to see a portion of His glory.
When Elijah, the most heroic and worthy of the Old Testament servants, showed weakness by doubting whether any other than himself still were faithful, the Lord showed the power of nature to him but spoke to him in a still small voice, rebuking his unbelief and restoring his faith.
When Paul had a thorn in the flesh sent to him, a messenger of Satan given him, he was led to understand that the answer to every prayer is not yes, but also was taught that grace was sufficient. From then on Paul gloried in his infirmities suffered for Christ.
So it was also with John. He suffered in exile as a very old man of around 90 years, and was likely near the end of life. While he was exiled, forlorn, seeming to be friendless and alone, he was allowed to hold mystic communings with his Savior, shared by no man ever before and shared by no man since.
The first five words of the book indicate the design of the entire book, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ".
In its truest sense it is a revealing, an unveiling, a disclosing, and a manifestation of Christ to all men for all time. He is shown to be a glorious being in the midst of golden candlesticks, a slain Lamb standing before the throne (slain from the foundation of the world), the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the conqueror on a white horse, and a judge on His throne. All the other details and elements of the visions we will see are secondary to the vision of His judgment. In the book, the earthly cry is "Come Lord Jesus" while the heavenly cry is "Worthy is the Lamb".
We see in the opening four verses the testimony of John, given by the angel, so that he may bear record of what he will see, not just the things that are, but also the things that will be. There is in the first chapter also the powerful statement by Jesus Christ stating" ... I am the Alpha and Omega, the first and last. .. ". John is so overcome by the first moment that he falls as dead, struck down by his astonishment and the divine hand of the Lord raises him up and restores his confidence and his long tears of banishment are dried as he is in the presence of the One he has loved all his adult life, in the changed and glorified form.
What Christ is here to John, He is to His people still. His divine hand still raises us up, restores us, and continues to.allow us to know in our hearts what will come based upon His work and promise. His promise at the end of all these visions is that "Surely I come quickly" which does not mean immediately after the visions but rather means that when He comes, it will be accomplished quickly (in the twinkling of the eye).
Of this we remain assured. He, to whom a thousand earth years is one day, has some wise and sufficient reason for the delay so far of his return. Wise teachers and students have pondered this matter for almost 2,000 years. Perhaps it is enough for us to simply keep one possible reason for this timing in our hearts:
"He is long suffering with us; not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance".
One thing we can be sure of is that it will be well for those servants whose Master finds them watching when He arrives. This book will teach us in vision form, revealed to John, the plan arranged for all the earth and mankind since the beginning of all things.